Going Home
by Evandar
Summary: Sequel to 'Mate with Me' Kurama leaves for the Makai to start his new life with Hiei, but how will this decision affect him and the people that he has to leave behind?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, nor am I making any money from this story.

AN: This is the promised sequel to my Fic 'Mate with Me?'. There will be more than one chapter to this Fic, but it won't be very long. Enjoy.

Going Home

By Evandar

Kurama smiled as he stepped through the portal into the Makai after his new mate. The air smelled just as it had the last time he was here; fresher than in the Ningenkai but tainted by the scent of blood, and the dusty ground felt familiar beneath his bare feet. Looking down at Hiei, his smile grew wider. Hiei had persuaded him, not that it had taken much effort, to leave his human life behind him and live as a demon once more. So, he had left his flat and all of his human possessions behind, apart from one picture of his mother, transformed into his Youko form and followed his mate home.

Now that Hiei was a Demon Lord he had an extensive territory that they had to trek through before they reached the castle where they would be settling down. It would take them a couple of days if they ran, over a week if they walked, but neither demon was in a hurry. When they reached the castle that used to belong to Mukuro, Hiei would be swamped with work and more assassination attempts. That would leave Kurama with little to do except help Hiei out, and look pretty. Of course, he could always visit Yusuke and Kuwabara, but he would have to have an escort; he wasn't popular in the Makai and with his mate in such a high position, he was the perfect hostage. There was also the risk of Yomi finding out about his presence here, and that was what Kurama was most worried about. He knew that Hiei would start a war for him if he had to, but to do so so soon after his takeover would be suicide.

Even with such worries, however, Kurama was happy. He was with the one person that he could have chosen to spend the rest of his life with. Hiei was, so far, the perfect mate and Kurama was more than happy with his choice. They hadn't spoken about what the future might hold for them yet, instead choosing to live for the moment. He knew that they would have to soon, but right now he was content just to stroll through the most dangerous of the three worlds with his love by his side and the wind blowing back his long silver hair.

KHKHKH

Shiori Hatanaka was worried. She hadn't received a call from her son for the past two weeks, when he usually phoned her at least twice a week just to check in. She couldn't remember him saying that he would be going away, and it wasn't like him to forget. On top of that, she had called the university only to be told that he hadn't been turning up for his lectures either. Upon finding that out, she had phoned the Police and was currently waiting for them outside her son's apartment, clutching at her husband's hand. She had knocked on the door, but had given up when there was no answer.

When the Police finally arrived Yukio Hatanaka used his key to let them into the tidy apartment. As usual, it was immaculate and at first glance, there was nothing out of place. They inspected the living room, kitchen and the bathroom before they all entered the bedroom. As soon as she entered the room, Shiori gasped. She didn't have to look around to know that something was wrong, the claw marks in the headboard and the tangled mess of sheets was enough.

"Holy shit," one of the officers said, staring at the patches of dried blood on the floor as his partner looked at the cracked wall and destroyed furniture. "What the hell happened here?"

His remark was met with silence. Shiori backed out of the room and leant against the hallway wall to keep herself from fainting. The edges of her vision were going dark and panic gnawed at her mind. What had happened to her son? Shuichi was a good boy, and got into no trouble. He was a wonderful student, got top grades and he was ever so popular. Shiori had no idea what he could have done to deserve to be hurt.

"Mrs Hatanaka?" one of the officers said, looking at her comfortingly. "How are you feeling?"

"I…"she whispered. "I'm worried, and frightened. Is my son going to be alright?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "Do you mind if I ask you some questions, Mrs Hatanaka?"

"Of course not, " Shiori replied and allowed him to lead her into the sitting room. She sank down onto her son's sofa and stared down at her clasped hands while the officer sat on the chair and looked at her intently.

"I have to ask, was he in any trouble? Did he take drugs, or get into fights very often?" he started.

"No, no," Shiori insisted. "Shuichi was a good boy; he wasn't in any trouble at all."

"I had to be sure," the young man assured her. "Do you know any of his friends? They might have an idea of where he is."

"I've only met one, a boy called Hiei," she replied. "Although he did mention others; Yusuke, Kuwabara and a girl called Botan."

"A girlfriend? Boyfriend?" the Police officer pressed.

"Shuichi always insisted that he was happy being single, and that he had no time for romance," Shiori replied, smiling at her son's excuse to get himself out of the blind dates she and her husband used to arrange for him. "He didn't show much interest in being with anyone."

"Alright," the officer said, nodding. "Do you know if there was anyone that might want to hurt him?"

"No, there's no one," she whispered. "I'm sorry I can't be of any help."

"It's alright," he assured. "Do you remember what this Hiei looked like?"

"Yes," she replied, glad that she could do something to help with the investigation. "He was very small and quite slender, with impish features. He had spiky black hair with a white starburst in the middle of his forehead, and red eyes."

"Red eyes?" the officer asked disbelievingly. Shiori nodded.

"Red eyes. He also wore a white bandanna. I think Shuichi said that he never took it off," she continued.

"Thank you Mrs Hatanaka," he said, standing. "It would be best if you made your way home now, and left the investigation to us. If you do hear from your son, please inform us immediately."

"I will, thank you," Shiori replied, also standing. As soon as her husband came into the room with the other Police officer, they left for their home. Sitting in the car, Shiori gazed out of the window with tears slowly trickling down her face. What had happened in that room?

KHKHKH

Hiei leant against a tree and watched as his fox disappeared down a hole that had been hidden between the roots of an ancient, and rather dangerous form of plant life. Hiei wasn't exactly sure what it was supposed to be, but he suspected that Kurama had bred it himself.

They had stopped off at one of Kurama's many dens so that the fox could check on, and collect some of the artefacts that he had hidden there to act as a sort of dowry. It was an old demon tradition that was no longer widely practised, but Kurama would give anything to help his mate.

So while Kurama was down there gathering his treasures, Hiei guarded the entrance. He was holding his katana loosely in his hand and looking around warily. Kurama's hideouts had remained a secret so far, and he refused to have just one of them exposed under his watch.

It wasn't very long before Kurama poked his head out of the hole again and looked around before wriggling out and closing the hole off once more.

"Thanks," he murmured, slinging his bag back over his shoulder.

"No problem," Hiei replied. "Come on."

Kurama smiled softly and fell into step beside his mate.

"You're worried, aren't you?" he asked.

"Hn" Hiei replied, shooting the silver haired Youko a dark look. "Why would I be worried? They're nothings."

Kurama chuckled softly and swooped down to press a kiss to Hiei's cheek. "Of course they are," he teased. "They're only Mukuro's generals."

Hiei snorted and continued to make his way through his territory. He was nervous, but he was trying not to let it get to him. Of course, Kurama's teasing didn't help, but he wouldn't tell the fox to shut up like he usually did. The sound of his voice was oddly comforting, even if his words were not, and Hiei was glad of the company. There was no one else in all three worlds that he would trust like this, and it was refreshing. A small smile graced his features and the couple walked on.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, and I am making no money from writing this Fic. Don't believe me? Join MI5 and take a look at my bank account.

**AN: **This chapter is set entirely in the Ningenkai so there is no Hiei/Kurama action at all. However, this chapter is pretty important, so don't skip out on it if you want to read the rest.

Going Home

By Evandar

Chapter 2

Shizuru Kuwabara scowled as her morning cigarette and coffee were interrupted by a loud knock at the door. Standing, she drew her yukata tighter around herself and went to answer it. She blinked in confusion at the two policemen that stood on her doorstep; she hadn't done anything illegal, and her little brother was in the Makai so there was nothing that the police could want with him.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"May we come in?" the older of the two officers asked. "We need to ask you some questions."

Shizuru nodded and opened the door wider to let them in. After they had changed their shoes for the house slippers that she provided, they followed her into the kitchen.

"Coffee?" she offered. "Tea?"

They shook their heads, indicating neither, and sat down at the kitchen table while Shizuru poured herself more coffee and lit another cigarette.

"Do you know a young man called Shuichi Minamino?" the eldest officer asked as his partner pulled out a notebook and pen to take notes.

"Yeah," she replied. "He's friends with my little brother."

"Is your brother here? We need to speak to him as well."

"Nope," she shook her head. "He's staying with his boyfriend for a while. And no, I don't know where, and there isn't a contact number. I trust him enough to let him take care of himself and call me when he needs me."

"Do you know when he will be back?" the officer asked, looking a bit annoyed at her lack of information. She shook her head again and he sighed.

"What's this about any way?" Shizuru asked, taking another drag of her cigarette.

"Mr Minamino has gone missing," the officer informed her, holding out a picture of the chaos that was the crime scene. Shizuru took it and blanched. He also handed her the list of Minamino's friends that his mother had given them. "Do you know any of these people?"

"Yusuke is Kazuma's boyfriend," she answered, looking it over. "That's my brother. Hiei is the guy that Kurama's in love with. He loves Kurama back, but neither of them would admit it. Good luck finding him and Botan; they're never around."

"Do you know how to contact them?"

"No, sorry," she replied. The police officer sighed again.

"You've seen the crime scene photo," he appealed. "If Minamino is alive, he will be seriously hurt. We need to find him. Urgently."

"I can't help you," she whispered. "I don't know anything else."

The officers thanked her for her time and went to leave before the youngest of the two realised something.

"Who is Kurama?" he asked curiously.

"Shuichi," she replied. "It's his nickname; all his friends call him that."

As soon as the officers left, Shizuru shut the door and slumped against it tiredly, wishing that she hadn't bothered getting out of bed. She knew that she had to get a message to the Reikai to let Koenma know what was going on in the Ningenkai, and she only knew one way to do that. She sighed and went to get dressed to go to Genkai Temple.

She smiled suddenly; at least she would get to see Yukina again.

KHKHKH

Mizumi Takezawa snatched the DNA sheet from the printer and studied it intently. There was one known sample that belonged to Shuichi Minamino that showed a perfectly normal human male. But there were two other samples that were unknown.

It was these samples that were causing trouble for the young scientist. She'd had to check the results five times before taking them as fact, even though she realised that there was no way that they could be. While both samples were male, which made sense as they had come from semen, they weren't human. There was no way that they could be human, and Mizumi didn't think that they belonged to any other known animal either. Fifty four chromosomes?

She sighed and tucked the results into the case folder, wondering what her team and the detectives assigned to the case would make of all this.

"What is going on?" she wondered out loud.

KHKHKH

Shiori Hatanaka paced her living room floor, wringing her hands worriedly. Ever since she had seen the chaos of her son's room she had been wondering what had happened to him, her mind coming up with a number of weird and disturbing scenarios that brought her little comfort, and in fact made her even more concerned.

She had tried to do housework to keep her mind off things, she had even snooped around her son's old room in case he had left something that might be of use to the police, but she had found nothing. The room had been thoroughly cleared out, and the only part of her son that remained there was the faint, lingering smell of roses.

Shiori was a housewife now, and had preferred to stay at home and let her new husband be the breadwinner, and the police had told her to stay there in case Shuichi or a kidnapper phoned, but Shiori couldn't stand it any more. She needed to do something, but after a disastrous morning that had ended with her burning her favourite blouse with the iron, smashing two bowls and a coffee cup, and bursting into tears of frustration when she hadn't been able to change Shuu-kun's bed, she didn't know what she could do.

She threw herself down onto the sofa and wept for her missing son, and her own helplessness.

KHKHKH

"This is impossible," Hirochi Kanata said after looking over the DNA results Takezawa had just given him.

"I know," she sighed. "But I ran the tests five times and got identical results. All five result sheets are in the file as proof."

"There's something else, isn't there," he said, looking at her closely. She nodded.

"Most of the blood isn't Minamino's," she explained. "There was one of the larger pools on the bed, and a couple of other specks, and some of the semen was his too, but the rest belongs to the two…anomalies."

"Odd," he murmured, lowering the folder and placing it on his desk. "But the rest of the scene hasn't been fully processed yet."

"I know we can't draw any conclusions yet," Mizumi said. "But I don't think we are dealing with a normal crime scene."

"Neither do I," Kanata agreed. Mizumi nodded and left the office as he flipped open the case folder once more.

'If these results are true,' he thought. 'Then we won't be dealing with anything near normal.'


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho and I make no money from writing these stories. This is just a hobby, I promise.

**AN: **Well this is it, the last chapter of 'Going Home'. But don't worry, this is not the end of the story. This is the third Fic out of eight in a story arc, and even though this one is ending, the next Fic, 'New Life' has been written and will be posted soon.

If you want more details about the 'Going Home' arc, please see my profile. There is a list of all the future titles there and some details about the Fics themselves. If you are into mildly worrying/offensive, off-the-cuff ramblings, then there is a link to my Live Journal in my profile. Feel free to visit.

**Going Home**

**By Evandar**

**Chapter 3**

Things had not been easy for them. As soon as they had arrived back at the castle, Hiei and Kurama had been forced to deal with rebels. Most of them had been part of Mukuro's army, but oddly, the Generals had no part in their plan. They had realised that Hiei was far too powerful for them to fight, even if they did join forces.

They had been surprised when Hiei had returned mated, but they had been even more surprised at the identity of said mate, and it made them even more determined to comply; attacking Hiei when he had the backing of the most powerful Youko in demon history would be nothing short of suicide.

But even after dealing with the rebellion, which had turned into a massacre, Hiei and Kurama had very little time for each other. They did share the same bed but by the time that they dragged themselves into it, they were far to tired to do anything but sleep, curled up in each others' arms. Hiei had involved Kurama in the running of his territory far more than the Youko had expected him to, he had thought that as the submissive in their union he would be treated more as a trophy mate, but Hiei still saw him as an equal and frequently followed Kurama's advice. It was fortunate that this was seen as a strength rather than a weakness by their subordinates, though it was possibly because his generals were afraid of Kurama.

The politics involved in Hiei's takeover were fairly complex. He not only had to prove that he was mentally and physically capable of running such a large territory , but he had to sort out the increasing mistakes that Mukuro had made. She had started as a good ruler, but as she became more and more obsessed with claiming Hiei as her own, she had become lax and had allowed parts of her territory to slip from her grasp, leaving it to Hiei to get them back and strengthen the borders as well as change laws.

A month after their arrival in the Makai, Hiei was meeting with his Generals to change the border guards to more practical and sensible positions and numbers.

"Strengthen the borders?" one of the Generals exclaimed.

"But why, my Lord, only strengthen the borders we share with Lord Yomi? Lady Mukuro always had a good relationship with him," another General said.

"I'm not Mukuro," Hiei growled and all the Generals silenced. "For as long as I have known him, Yomi has been interested in taking Kurama as his mate. The news that Kurama is now mine will not remain in these borders, and it is my responsibility to protect him. To do that, I need to strengthen the borders against him and keep an eye on his movements."

"What about the borders with Urameshi?" the second General asked.

"Urameshi is my ally, we can spare some guards from there," Hiei told him and the General nodded. Hiei sighed with relief; he had won that debate, and his mate would soon be better protected.

KHKHKH

Kurama sat outside in the castle gardens, part way up a tree with his eyes closed. The wind was rustling in the leaves and playing with his hair. Kurama sighed softly, a smile gracing his lips; he felt so calm and happy here. He was glad that he had made the decision to come to the Makai with Hiei, but he did miss his human family, particularly his mother. Despite his happiness he did feel guilty about leaving so suddenly, but he had been caught up in the moment and practically euphoric about being with Hiei at last.

He paled drastically and sat bolt upright when he realised what kind of state their slightly rough mating had left his room in. He hadn't called his mother, hadn't left a note, and it had been a month since he had left the Ningenkai…his mother would be frantic!

His contentment shattered, he jumped from the tree and sprinted back up to the castle and the rooms that he shared with Hiei. Living with Shiori for such a long time and learning about emotions such as love that he had not experienced before meeting her, had filled him with great love and admiration for the human woman. He knew that he would not have been able to suppress his demon instincts when it came to Hiei, and he knew that his mother would have a hard time accepting their relationship, but he knew that he needed to tell her about his new life at the very least. He did owe her that.

He could not bring himself to tell her of his true nature, his actions had already hurt her enough, but he could tell her about Hiei and that he would not be returning to the Ningenkai.

Half an hour later, Kurama folded the heavy parchment his letter was written on. Could he risk going back to the Ningenkai to deliver it himself, of should he get a messenger to do it? He already knew the answer to that, if he returned and she saw him then he would have a hard time leaving her again, even though his rightful place was with his mate. But who could he trust with such an important task? None of the palace messengers were powerful enough to get through the barrier between the Makai and the Ningenkai, and even if they could he wouldn't trust them with this. An idea struck him and he grabbed his communicator from the table, opened it and called Botan.

"Kurama?" she asked, surprised to get a call from him. "What is it?"

"Hello Botan," he greeted. "I need a favour, could you come to Mukuro's old castle? I'm in the room with the balcony on the north side. Please come as soon as you can."

He closed the communicator and waited. She arrived a few minutes later, slightly out of breath and wondering what on earth was wrong with him. He explained quickly, and she agreed to deliver the letter. When she had gone, with the letter tucked into the sleeve of her kimono, Kurama stood and went back downstairs to meet his mate as Hiei left the council room. All he could do now was get on with his life and live in a way that he hoped might have made his mother proud should she have heard of it.

"How did it go?" Kurama asked, falling into step with the smaller demon.

"I got my point across eventually," Hiei sighed. "How was your morning?"

"I wrote a letter to my mother, telling her that I'm alive but that I'm not going back," Kurama told him. "I thought that she should know, considering all that she has done for me. I got Botan to deliver it."

Hiei said nothing, instead he just slipped his hand into Kurama's and entwined their fingers gently. He understood why Kurama had felt that he needed to do that, and he knew that their was nothing he could say that could make his Fox feel better, so he silently swore that he would always be there to support Kurama and let his actions do the talking for him. Besides, he wasn't that much good with words anyway.

They continued down the hall together, servants ducking out of the way and bowing low as they passed. They left the castle and stared out across the plains of the Makai from the top of the steps, over the expanse of Hiei's territory and towards Yomi's.

"When Yomi realises that you have strengthened your borders against him, he will attack," Kurama said after a while.

"The we prepare for war," Hiei replied. "The territory is not as divided about me as I thought is would be."

"That just means that you are good at what you do," Kurama chuckled, wrapping his arms around Hiei's shoulders.

"Only because of you," Hiei murmured, looking up at his mate. "Are you happy here Kurama?"

"Of course I am," Kurama replied, smiling brightly as he gazed into Hiei's eyes. "I'm with you; I'm home."

KHKHKH

'Dearest Mother,

'I am writing to tell you that I will not be returning to Tokyo, and possibly not even Japan. While I am alive and well, I do not think that I can continue to live a lie as I have done for quite some time now.

'By the time that you read this letter, I will no longer be in the country. I will not tell you where I am going as I do not want you to look for me. I know that my disappearance will have worried you, but I beg you to move on; I cannot bear the thought of you being sad because of me. The reason why I have left is so that I can start a new life with my lover, Hiei. It was my idea to leave as I knew that in Japan and within our new family, our union would never truly be accepted. We love each other, Mother, and we want to spend the rest of our lives together.

'Please do not doubt that I love you too. You taught me everything worth knowing, such as love and caring, and I owe you so much for that. I am happy and in love, and I will always try to live in a way that would make you proud, so please move on and concentrate on your new family.

'Your loving son,

'Shuuichi'

Shiori lowered the letter slowly and looked up at her husband and stepson, tears trickling down her cheeks.

"Shiori? What is it?" Yoshio Hatanaka asked worriedly.

"It's from Shuuichi," she whispered. "He's alive."

She carefully folded the parchment back up and held it to her heart. She didn't care that her son had fallen in love with another man, she was just so happy that he was alright. Hope blossomed within her, as long as her son still lived she could always pray that one day, Shuuichi would return home again.


End file.
